January 30, 2022
Families & staff,
We have successfully completed our first semester of the school year.
Student Safety:
Every year we have new families enroll in the district and they are unfamiliar with our pick-up process. Even families who have been here awhile, have trouble remembering the routine so I will go over it again.
The pick-up line starts on Hathaway and 8th Street and curves around the high school, the elementary school, and comes out onto Highway 9. There is a designated pick-up lane that is clearly marked closest to the school property (sidewalk) on the town street. The pick-up lane is for cars to sit and wait until students are released from school. The pick-up lane is not for parking if you need to enter the buildings. Parents should NOT get out of vehicles while in the pick-up lane. Elementary students are released at 4:07 and will be in front of the elementary doors to wait for parents to pull up. If there are no cars in front of you while you are in line, please pull forward to keep the line moving. Once your child is safely in your vehicle, pull out into the street and drive on, allowing cars behind you to pull forward. If you are waiting for a middle or high school student, you will be waiting a little longer since they are not released until 4:12. We ask that you park on Hathaway next to the high school parking lot so elementary parents can pull around you or better yet, park in the high school parking lot.
Some things to keep in mind:
The side of the street opposite of the school is private property and is not for school parking.
The Brown Burro (I’m not sure of the new name.) parking lot is also not for school use.
I realize we have a critical parking shortage and our pick-up process is not ideal. We are working to improve both of those in order to have a safer process for our students. This is what we have to work with right now so we need to all work together to make it safe. I am asking parents, students, andstaffto please use extreme caution while driving in and around the campus even if that means you are a few minutes late for work because you drove all the way around to 8th street instead of driving the wrong way on a one-way street to get to the parking lot faster. I have asked officers to watch our school roadways closely and issue citations for violations so please be careful.
Students cross busy roads and several spots around the school campus. School Zone signs are all over town but crossing roadways can still be a dangerous situation for students. We are currently working with the Town of Fairplay, Park County, and CDOT to come up with the best solutions for student safety. In fact, we will be discussing this at our board meeting tomorrow night and we welcome you to join the meeting so you will be informed of what will be put into place.
4B:
In just a few months, the district will start receiving our mill levy funds the community approved. Thank you so much for getting behind the district financially and giving us the opportunity to build some quality programs for students. In January, the Board of Education just approved an amended budget that includes some new budget items for those additional funds. Start watching the district website for updates on how we will use the mill levy funds. Thank you again for your support.
Cindy Bear, Superintendent